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Bush’s Tortured Logic

By Larry Johnson on April 16, 2009 at 6:42 PM in Current Affairs

Although the Bush team appears to have dodged the bullet of facing a foreign jury for their role in promoting or approving torture, the truth is starting to seep out. It ain’t pretty. Antiseptic maybe, but not pretty.

A 18-page memo, dated August 1, 2002, from Jay Bybee, Assistant Attorney General, OLC, to John A. Rizzo, General Counsel CIA. [PDF]
A 46-page memo, dated May 10, 2005, from Steven Bradbury, Acting Assistant Attorney General, OLC, to John A. Rizzo, General Counsel CIA. [PDF]
A 20-page memo, dated May 10, 2005, from Steven Bradbury, Acting Assistant Attorney General, OLC, to John A. Rizzo, General Counsel CIA. [PDF]
A 40-page memo, dated May 30, 2005, from Steven Bradbury, Acting Assistant Attorney General, OLC, to John A. Rizzo, General Counsel CIA. [PDF]

These are important. Why? Because they provide the American people a glimpse into the banality of evil.

I have a mea culpa as well. When the question first arose about what techniques were appropriate for using to interrogate terrorist suspects I drew on my own experience as a “subject” during a CIA hostage interrogation training course. We were subjected to a variety of techniques, including stress positions, sleep deprivation and confinement to small, cramped boxes. I experienced four of the seven techniques employed against Abu Zubaydah. I took the position that if it was done to me in an exercise then it was probably okay to do it to the terrorists.

I was wrong. I was in an exercise that was going to end and I knew the people running it could not hurt me or they would face punishment. Zubaydah did not have that option. Moreover I was not familiar with the law. When I took time to read the UN Convention Against Torture I received an eye-opening education. The law is clear. What Bush authorized was torture and was against the law.

Finding weak legal arguments to justify immoral activity is the work of fools and knaves.

I applaud the ACLU for securing these documents. It is a good first step.

Unfortunately, Barack “Mr. Constitutional Scholar” Obama left the door for future abuses? Why? No one who worked for the CIA will be punished for carrying out these actions.

Ironically the U.S. Department of Justice this week was allowing a former Nazi death camp guard to be deported back to Poland to face possible charges for abuses he committed while carrying out the orders of superiors. Hell, while we are giving everyone a pass for illegal, immoral activity carried out for what the leaders considered to be a good purpose, let’s let Demanjuk go. At least we would be consistent.

Rule of law my ass.